Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell announcement

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have released an extraordinary statement, effectively quitting as senior members of the Royal Family.

The Queen has announced she is “entirely supportive” of Prince Harry and Meghan’s wish to become independent and spend more time in Canada.

The Queen has granted permission for Harry and Meghan to split from the royal family, saying she is "entirely supportive" of their decision to become economically independent and spend time living in Canada.

She released a statement after talks with Princes Charles, William and Harry, with Meghan reportedly phoning in from Canada where she has just returned to be reunited with baby Archie.

“Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family,” she said after two hours of crisis talks at her Sandringham estate.

Harry and Meghan have been granted permission to split from the royal family. Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Images via GettySource:Whimn

“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”

If you're detail-oriented, you may have noticed she referred to them as "Harry and Meghan", where she would usually have said "the Duke and Duchess of Sussex" - leading us to suspect that part of the deal is the loss of their titles.

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The Queen went on to say that discussions are still ongoing about the details of the arrangement, with more complex matters to work through, but she has agreed to a "period of transition", during which Harry and Meghan will split their time between the UK and Canada.

The Queen released a statement after two hours of talks at Sandringham. Source: SuppliedSource:Whimn

“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives,” she said.

“It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK.

“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”

Just hours earlier, before their meeting with the Queen, Princes William and Harry took the extraordinary step of releasing a joint statement dismissing claims of "bullying" within the royal family.

“Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge,” the brothers said.

“For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful.”

This was a response to a source telling The Times that the brothers fell out around the time of Harry and Meghan's wedding in May 2018, claiming Harry thought his brother didn't do enough to welcome Meghan into the family.

The article also claimed that Harry and Meghan felt constrained by their royal roles, always knowing Prince William would always be more important, as second heir to the throne.

“If you are Meghan and Harry and you have had two years of constantly being told your place, constantly bullied as they would see it, constantly being told what you can’t do, Meghan has been thinking ‘This is just nuts, why would anyone put up with this?’” the source said.

Harry and Meghan opened up to journalist Tom Bradby in an ITV special last year. Source: ITVSource:Whimn

Friend of Meghan and Harry, journalist Tom Bradby, who conducted their now-famous ITV interview in Africa which lifted the lid on their royal struggles, wrote that he thought Buckingham Palace had no choice but to support the couple's bid for independence, lest they air the royals' dirty laundry even further.

"If their co-operation in the ITV documentary was qualified honesty, what would the real deal look like?" Bradby wrote.

"I have some idea of what might be aired in a full, no-holds-barred, sit-down interview and I don’t think it would be pretty.

"I suspect the royal family would carry British public opinion still - perhaps only just - but its international standing is a key part of its value to the British state. If that were to be tarnished, it could be very damaging indeed."

So the information we have from Buckingham Palace is that the Queen is "entirely supportive" and nobody has ever bullied anybody. Basically, there's nothing to see here.

How this will all play out will be revealed over the coming weeks and months, but it's clear Harry and Meghan are doing what's best for their family, and the Queen is doing her best to keep things nice.